Class 2/ Class 3A / Class 3B / DGFT
What is a Digital Signature Certificate
A Digital Signature Certificate, like hand written signature, establishes the identity of the sender filing the documents through internet which sender cannot revoke or deny. Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are the digital equivalent (that is electronic format) of physical or paper certificates. Examples of physical certificates are drivers' licenses, passports or membership cards. A digital certificate can be presented electronically to prove your identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain documents digitally. In simple words, a document can be Digitally Signed using a Digital Signature Certificate
Like physical documents are signed manually, electronic documents, for example e-forms are required to be signed digitally using a Digital Signature Certificate. The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides for use of Digital Signatures on the documents submitted in electronic form in order to ensure the security and authenticity of the documents filed electronically. This is the only secure and authentic way that a document can be submitted electronically. Moreover a Digital Signature is the only way one can authenticate electronic or online transactions “legally”.
THE TECHNICALS
Digital signatures are an application of asymmetric key cryptography. The applicant of digital signature generates two keys i.e. Public key and Private Key. The private key being used to sign the document while public key is used to verify the Private Key
Digital Signatures In INDIA
The IT (Information Technology) Act 2000, has accorded legal recognition to Digital Signature Certificates. Digital Signatures are treated at par with the hand written signatures.
Controller of Certifying Authority is the Body governing the Issuance of Digital signatures in India. It has established ROOT Certifying authority (RCAI). The Digital Signature Certificates are issued by Certifying Authorities like Sify, N – Code, TCS, E Mudhra, GNFC, NIC, MTNL. Signatures are issued by these certifying authorities after verifying the identity of the applicant. The applicants credential and public keys are certificated by the private keys of the certifying authorities (CA). The RCAI in Turn Certifies the Public Keys of the CA’s.
Say,
Mr. X wants to digitally sign a document. He would now use a asymmetric crypto system to generate his private key and public key. Public key is widely distributed but Mr. X will keep private keys secure with him. Now any one can use Mr. X’s public key to verify his signature. The problem here is as to how anyone can be sure that a particular public key belongs to Mr. X. To solve this problem Digital signature Certificates are used. Mr. X will apply to LICENSED CA’s as discussed above for DSC. The CA will verify his credential and certify his public key.
Types of Digital Signature
The different types of Digital Signature Certificates are:
Class 2: Here, the identity of a person is verified against a trusted, pre-verified database.
Class 3: This is the highest level where the person needs to present himself or herself in front of a Registration Authority (RA) and prove his/ her identity.
DSC are generally issued having validity of 1 year or 2 years